[ParadiseFalls]

I'm 23 and also feel like it's too much to give up drinking, so I try to keep it to a few pints of cider or beer a week and very infrequent big drinking nights. I can drink that way and still lose, but (as I learned last spring in my senior year of college when I was dieting and also doing major drinking) I can't have a "night out" too often without wrecking it. That said, the issue for me isn't the alcohol itself — if I drink a TON of water and stay within my calorie range, it doesn't impact my loss. But if I drink a lot and don't drink water or I eat drunk food, I get bloated, plus the next day I want hangover food, and then I gain, etc., and it takes sometimes a week or more to get the gain off instead of losing like I would otherwise have been.

[xmorgaaan]

I don't drink very often, but I haven't seem to have had a problem with drinking occasionally and losing. However, when I drink, I'm very cautious. I used to drink vodka and pink lemonade when I was out with friends. After I started losing my weight, I realized that I couldn't keep doing this because of the sugar in the pink lemonade. This may sound stupid, but now I use vodka and water and put a pink lemonade flavor packet in it! A lotttt less sugar, and it basically tastes the same.

[runningfromfat]

I think it's possible. But you just have to take into account those calories during the rest of the day and eat less.

I don't drink much but will have the occasional glass of wine. I do have some sort of dessert (not a lot about 100 calories worth) at night so in my case if I have wine I just skip the dessert.

[SisterFunk]

Before I started counting calories I never gave it any thought on how many calories are in alcohol. Now that I pay attention to such things, I just make sure I have the calories for it if I'm going to drink. I usually just decide how many drinks I will have and plan to stick to that number.

[DollyMichele]

I love wine and I have to budget the calories in my diet. Also with my calorie intake being so low I've found I can only have 1 drink anyway. That 1 glass of wine makes me a tad giggly. If I had 2 I have headache the next day & feel crappy. But I do try to only drink 1-2 days of the week. I rather eat than drink most nights. Wine isn't very filling & it makes me want to eat more. Good luck in finding the right balance for you!